share:

DVDs from TCM Shop

OVERVIEW

powered by AFI

Brief Synopsis

Doctors try to get a Scottish soldier to open up to his comrades before telling him he's dying.

At a Red Cross hospital in Burma in 1945, five patients remain after the rest are sent home at the end of the war. These five--"Yank", an American; "Blossom," a Basuto African who speaks no English; "Digger," an Australian; "Tommy," an Englishman; and "Kiwi" from New Zealand--are told by Colonel Dunn that they will be joined by "Lachie" McLachlen, a Scot. Before he arrives, the soldiers are informed that he only has one kidney and will soon die of uremic poisoning. The colonel asks the others to befriend Lachie and keep him contented. The men agree, but when Lachie arrives, he gruffly rebuffs the men's efforts to be friendly. Yank is of Scottish descent, although he hated his Scottish grandfather, and Sister Margaret Parker, the hospital's Canadian nurse, taught in Scotland, but their connections to Scotland do not endear them to Lachie. When Margaret learns that Lachie has invested his money in a farm that he intends to work when he returns to Scotland, she unsuccessfully tries to convince him to use some of that money to buy a regimental kilt, something he was too thrifty to buy in the past. That night, as the men are about to go to sleep, Lachie starts to play his bagpipes. Blossom, who speaks no English, then sings an African song. At mail call, Lachie explains his lack of mail by saying that paper and stamps are too expensive to use for something as prosaic as letters. He continues to be suspicious of all who attempt to make friends with him, and when Margaret offers to do things for him, he warns her that he has no plans to marry. Privately, Margaret tells the others that Lachie was an illegitimate child and has had a hard life. On Lachie's twenty- fourth birthday, Margaret plans a party. She has bought him a regimental kilt, and the men all contribute other items of the uniform. Lachie's hard heart is moved by the gifts, but he is worried that he will not be able to return their kindness. That night Lachie tells Margaret that he is sorry that he miscalculated the human race and decides to share his farm with the other men. She responds by advising him to share himself with them instead. The next day, Lachie dresses up in his new kilt and the men try very hard, but without success, to discover whether Scottish men wear anything underneath them. Later, Lachie confesses to Yank that he is in love with Margaret and intends to propose. When he does, Margaret accepts to make him happy. Later, the doctor tells Lachie that he can go home immediately if he wants. Lachie demands to know why he is so lucky and finally learns that he is going to die. He then believes that Margaret and the other men have been nice to him only because he is dying and decides to return to Scotland to live out the rest of his life alone. He returns the uniform and kilt and orders the men to keep away from him. Just before he leaves, Blossom offers him a present, and Lachie coldly rejects it. Furious, Yank explains that Blossom does not speak English and therefore could not have known that Lachie was dying. In the face of this evidence of real caring, Lachie breaks down. He admits that he does not want to die alone and begs to be allowed to stay. Taking back the uniform, he once again dresses up, and Tommy finally discovers what Scottish men wear under their kilts.